Back to the Castle and Other Memories
by exsanguination
Summary: ONE SHOT! The strange friendship of a miko from the modern world and a hanyou from the feudal world was sealed in fate. Their love, however, remained uncertain. Reminiscing on events past leads to realizations about each other. Spoiler warnings.


Disclaimer: It would be nice to own them, wouldn't it? That right, however, belongs to the fabulous Rumiko Takahashi.  
  
Author's Note: This is a one shot, written only perhaps an hour after watching Castle Beyond the Looking Glass, so it takes off from there. Also, there is some Japanese in here, forgive me for that and any misspellings/errors that are a part of that. After watching hours of subs, you sort of get accustomed to it.  
  
------  
  
----"We always want to be together, don't we?" She was so close he could feel her breath on his lips as she spoke, softly. So close the scent of the salt in her tears was nearly overwhelming. Then, the gentle press of her velvety lips against his..  
  
The pain of becoming a youkai vanished quickly without a trace. Claws, sense, emotion was all the same as it was before.  
  
'Kagome..'  
  
His lips pressed back, returning her kiss. No one else could say a word, feeling as though they were intruding. Shippou's face burned red with embarrassment and shock. Kagome had put her life on the line to bring him back. She loved him and he her, it had been blatantly apparent to them all for some time. But they had refused to admit it. Now, here, a completely open expression of that affection and love for one another. No one, save Kaguya, wanted to ruin that.  
  
They pulled apart after only a moment. "Inuyasha, are you all right now?" Her beautiful face so full of worry..gods, what had he done to deserve her. Why had she done such a stupid thing!? She should have left, saved herself..he could have killed her.  
  
"Kagome.." Unable to stand just looking, he pulled her close into his arms with his head on top of hers. "Idiot. You were always so reckless." She made no comment, nor did she try to push herself away from his embrace. It was something she never wanted to end, being so close to him... Where she was safe and happy. It was too perfect.  
  
He gazed down at her head, nestled against his chest. Gods, he loved her so much. "I'll stay a hanyou a little while longer, for you."----  
  
What happened to moments like that, anyway?  
  
"Baka! I don't know why I even keep you around!" Inuyasha's golden eyes were wide with agitation. "If it wasn't for your ability to see those damned shards--"  
  
"Shards, shards shard! All I hear from you is about that stupid Shikon Jewel! If I'm nothing but your SHARD detector, I'm going home! You can find the rest of the fragments YOURSELF!" By now her voice had risen to screaming pitch. Kagome's face was flaming with rage. Even Inuyasha knew it was a bad idea to try and persuade her back now, even to apologize. He'd just get sat. Several times.  
  
Why, why, WHY was he such a fool. By now he should have realized the damaging effects of his statement.  
  
'Kagome, forgive me.'  
  
------  
  
"What a stupid jerk! I'm done with it! He can get his precious Kikyou to look for them for him. I'm so sick of being a shard detector." She climbed out of the well, only pausing to stare at Goshinboku.  
  
----'It's a boy!' A boy indeed. A boy with claws and silver hair and dog ears perched on the top of his head. His eyes were closed and he rested peacefully. How could he be so content with an arrow sticking out of his chest?  
  
She decided to go touch the ears. The temptation was too much. They couldn't be real..could they? After all, she'd been dragged down a time- traveling well by a giant centipede, whom she staved off with some sort of strange power from the center of her palm. This dream couldn't get any weirder than it already had. The hybrid of a creature was nothing in comparison!  
  
Thump, thump, thump, thump! The pounding of several arrows too close to her for comfort, forcing her close to this strange boy. What was going on? Her attention was momentarily drawn from the boy to stare at the angry mob, demanding to know why she was present in Inuyasha's forest.  
  
'Is this Inuyasha?'----  
  
It was not long after when the emotional torment from the stupid idiot began. In his confusion, being ripped from a fifty year sleep that was supposed to last eternity, he'd mistaken her for the one who bound him to that tree. Kikyou was her name, and she would be the cause of 90% of that torment. The rest would come from Inuyasha's own violent, harsh, brash, arrogant, self-possesed personality. She glowered.  
  
She stomped all the way upstairs, pointedly ignoring the strange looks she was recieving from Souta, Okaa-san, and Jii-san. Even Buyo mewed in confusion. But she was absolutely not in the mood for anyone's questioning. And so she would not subject herself to it by pausing or looking sad or making herself avaliable to everyone.  
  
The family winced at the loud crashing sound of Kagome's door being slammed shut. Mrs. Higurashi chalked it up to teenage hormones, and walked into the kitchen to prepare supper, insisting that her father and her son help her. This would give Kagome a little time before the inevitable interrogation at the dinner table began.  
  
'Stupid Inuyasha. Why doesn't he steal my shards and push me back like he did the first time?' she thought bitterly, staring out her window. 'I wonder when he'll come back for me..'  
  
----"I was so scared," he whispered, pulling Kagome close. Her breath caught in her throat. What was going on? What the hell was Inuyasha doing? He was her friend and her companion, sure, but did he feel...?  
  
No, he couldn't. But she couldn't deny how good it felt to have Inuyasha with his arms around her. He was so close.. His breath on her neck was warm and oddly comforting, his heartbeat hummed rythmically against her chest.  
  
Anything good or hopeful she'd conjured in her head in those few moments had been torn to pieces when she felt herself falling and the absence of the Shikon no Tama around her neck.----  
  
He hadn't come for her then. She'd run back, wrapping her arms around him, telling him she'd needed to see him again. His eyes had widened in shock and something else that was unreadable. She felt like a moron just then, professing feelings that he didn't return. What an idiot..  
  
------  
  
"Inuyasha?" A timid voice came from below Goshinboku. Masculine. Polite. The voice a certain monk used around Sango when he'd crossed the line. Again.  
  
"What the hell do you want now, houshi?" he snarled, his malice clear from where he sat in the tree. Which was rather high, Miroku noted.  
  
"We were wondering when you were going to get Kagome!" The wail of Shippou pierced the air. 'Dammit, Shippou..'  
  
"Will you just SHUT UP! If the wench wants to come back, she can do it on her own damn time. We'll just go on without her, we don't need her!" Inuyasha's anger shook the mighty tree, a sure sign to Miroku and Shippou now was not the time. Shippou curled against Miroku's neck for protection.  
  
"Shippou, we musn't provoke him. You know how he gets when he's wrong.." Miroku whispered soothingly to the frightened kitsune. "Not to mention," he said with higher volume to his hanyou companion, "we can't go looking for the shards without our, as you so kindly put it, 'shard detector' to lead us."  
  
"SHUT UP!" he screamed furiously. He crossed his arms in his large sleeves, looking ridiculous. "AND I'M NOT WRONG!" he hollered after them as an afterthought, to be greeted by the utter silence of the forest. Utter silence. Any youkai within a ten mile radius could feel the anger washing over the hanyou, silently knowing that if they were to attack they'd be killed by his anger alone. No regular animal was stupid enough to make a sound or move until he'd calmed down enough.  
  
He wanted to rip something apart. He didn't have the heart to tear the old Goshinboku, though. He pondered for a moment, what that would mean..it could change history itself. Was it not Goshinboku itself that had been the site of all of this, the site of rest, until everything changed? It was where Kagome had found him, held by a single arrow.  
  
Kagome.  
  
----'Kikyou.'  
  
There was that wench now, running away from the demon. What in all the hells had happened to the bitch!? The real Kikyou would merely have blasted Mistress Centipede without a second thought, never once breaking a sweat. But this stupid twit ran away, carrying on as if she hadn't the slightest clue.  
  
"Really, Kikyou, I'm disappointed."  
  
"Listen you!" Her eyes narrowed, looking up at me. What right did she have to be angry? "I don't know who this Kikyou is, except that she's not me!"  
  
"Keh!" he replied. A coward and a liar! "Do you really expect me to believe I wouldn't know the stench of the girl who..hm?" This couldn't be, this had to be Kikyou! But..it..wasn't. "You're not her!" He was completely dumbfounded. If not Kikyou, who was she?  
  
"Get it now? My name's Kagome! Kah Go. Meh!"----  
  
He smiled lightly at the memory. Things had changed so much since then, since he had awoken from his fifty year sleep. Since then she'd been there, for everything. Not just the jewel shards, either. Everything. Even Kikyou after her resurrection.  
  
----"May I ask you a simple question?" Her eyes had been full of renewed hope and happiness. He couldn't help but wonder what had caused the change. He didn't have long to ponder this..  
  
"Will you let me stay with you?"  
  
'Stay with me? After all of that, after all she's endured because of me, after all the times she could have lost her life... She... She wants to stay? All this time I've been wanting to see you, too..'  
  
He'd hardly remembered the rest, only the feel of her hand in his, pulling him towards the village. When his mind finally registered what had happened, he wrapped his clawed hand around hers. Looking down at her, he was met with her sweet, innocent, caring smile. He wanted to melt right there. What was it about her that did this to him?  
  
It was not in his power whether or not he smiled back. He simply did.----  
  
She stayed while he pushed her away. Oi..  
  
'Only because you're afraid she won't love you back...' Where did THAT come from!?  
  
'You're getting soft,' he thought to himself angril. Promtply agreeing, he went back to his brooding. Ignoring, of course, the knowledge the second voice never questioned the first.  
  
------  
  
----Kagome's heart stopped. Blown to bits..? She found she could no longer run. Clutching Inuyasha's fire-rat haori closely to her as if it would protect him, tears welled in her eyes. 'Inuyasha, you weren't wearing your fire rat shirt. You didn't have your armor.' This was all her fault, she was sure of it. If she didn't have his haori, he'd be fine right now..not 'blown to bits' as Kouga had so kindly put it.  
  
"K-Kagome!" Kouga tried pleadingly. He hadn't meant to make her cry. If only he hadn't mentioned...Kagome...  
  
"Now you've done it. You made her cry." Hakkaku mentioned bluntly. Thank you, Mr. Obvious. He wanted to kill Hakkaku right now..  
  
Kouga's eyes opened wider in horror nonetheless. Crying was something Inukoro made her do, not him.. "Don't cry now.."  
  
"It's all my fault! He gave me this and.." she sobbed sadly. If only she didn't take it..  
  
"It isn't your fault! I saw you try to refuse it, but he cruelly forced it on you..!" he said, indignant and feeling better already. 'Though I would have done the same..'  
  
"Dumbass!" There was a smarting pain in the back of Kouga's head, accompanied by the angered voice of the said hanyou himself. 'Forced it on her?' He repeated with irritation, still holding his fist up. Kouga's facial expression changed, surprise at his presence evident.  
  
"Inuyasha!" "You're okay?" Kagome didn't even register the voices behind the statements. Her mind had gone blank hearing his voice.. Daring to look, she slowly raised her head to hear his reply and see his miffed expression.  
  
"KEH! I'm made of stronger stuff than that." He looked at them again.  
  
"But it seems like Renkotsu valued his life, too. He ditched the bombs just before they went off."  
  
"I figured as much. You know what they say: idiots die hard." Kouga glared at him. Kagome didn't hear the rest, up until the feel of Inuyasha close to her.  
  
"I'm sorry I worried you," he said more softly.  
  
"Are you really...are you really okay?" she looked at him, her voice breaking and her eyes still full of her tears. Wrapping an arm around her waist, his reply was a simple "yeah."----  
  
'I wonder what horrors you're facing now. I wish I could be there with you, Inuyasha.' She didn't push this thought away. It's always worse when you're sitting at home, waiting, than in the heat of the battle and watching it all happen. Sitting at home in her era made her helpless. She couldn't do anything for him when she was here..  
  
She smiled ruefully, aware how much she truly loved the feudal era. It was a land of adventure and excitement. Her life was not pointless in the modern age, mind you, but it was certainly nothing to her second, hidden life. Where her best friend hunted demons, she was a powerful priestess, and where she was in love with a hanyou.  
  
She'd long ago admitted to herself she was in love with Inuyasha. If he had any sense in him, he ought to have realized it, too. She was to leave the next decision to him, seeing as her feelings were out in the open. She sighed, depressed all over again.  
  
'Will you ever return my feelings, Inuyasha? Your sense of loyalty and your guilt are strong, though. You'll probably go with Kikyou to hell after all..' She felt the tears welling up in her eyes again. It wasn't fair!  
  
------  
  
Car exhaust. Inuyasha sneezed with irritation. This era had some strange and useless things. Metal machines that polluted once clean air with their stench carried people around. He felt proud knowing his own speed could beat these things easily. But then again, it was rare he felt the presence of a demon here. Easily pushing himself out of the well, he sniffed for Kagome's scent amongst everything else.  
  
Finding it, the source was her bedroom. Mingled with the smell of salt... 'You weren't crying, were you, Kagome? Please..'  
  
"Inu-nii-san!" Dammit. He was given a few seconds of warning before the Souta kid ran into him, happily flinging his arms around his hero. "You made it! Maybe you can talk to Kagome? Please?? She's been in her room for hours and won't come down!" he pleaded, then gave Inuyasha a suspicious look. "You weren't the one who upset her, were you?" He gave an accusing glare before Inuyasha snorted.  
  
"Keh! I didn't do anything to her!" He crossed his arms again, looking quite immature for the sixty seven year old hanyou he really was. Again. Softening, "You said she was in her room?"  
  
Souta nodded his head vigorously. "Are you gonna go talk to her?"  
  
"Hai," he responded, allowing himself into the Higurashi home without another thought. The smell of her tears was stronger.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi and her father watched silently as another teenager stomped up the stairs, out of view, without so much as a word of explanation of why he was in their house or going to their Kagome's room.  
  
"Kagome?" he asked, knocking on the door. This was strange to him, being so nice and chivalrous..  
  
"Nani?" she asked softly, not daring to believe it was Inuyasha's voice. And not accompanied by his rude entrance, demanding she go back.  
  
"Kagome, may I come in?" he asked softly, trying very hard to be nice. It was his rudeness that made her come back in the first place.  
  
"I--I guess," she said, still unsure of what was going on. Why was he here so soon, and why was he being so...so nice?  
  
Looking at Kagome's soft carpet, he suddenly found it far more interesting than it had in the past. "I'msorryIdidn'tmeanwhatIsaidcanyoupleaseforgiveme?"  
  
Kagome took a moment to process the stream of words. He's sorry. He didn't mean it. He wanted to be forgiven. "Really, Inuyasha?" she asked softly.  
  
"Keh! I said it didn't I?" he sneered, then quickly regretted it. He was being mean again, and that's what drove her away in the first place.  
  
"I forgive you," she replied, smiling, though he couldn't understand why.  
  
He smiled back nervously, wiping her tears away. "No more tears, though, all right?" he said, more of a command than a question.  
  
She picked up her bag. "Ready to go home?" she asked. 'HOME!? Since when did Sengoku Jidai become HOME!?' She felt a blush rising to her cheeks and was about to tell him she meant his home, not hers, but his actions stopped her.  
  
Without a second thought to her statement, he tugged at her hand and brought her back towards the wellhouse. "Yeah," he mumbled. "We need all the time we can back there," he added for good measure carefully leaving out the rest of the statement: "to look for the shards of the jewel." He hoped she didn't think he was wussing out.  
  
"It just came out, so natrual, to call it home," Kagome whispered in a barely audible tone.  
  
'That's because it will be your home one day.' Inuyasha smiled, picked the girl up in his arms, and jumped down the well. 


End file.
